Resilience. You’ve likely heard this word before, possibly in conversations around wellbeing, economies or social structures. Maybe resilience has entered your vocabulary through news and media where it is used as a ‘buzzword’ in relation to recent natural disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic. Perhaps its growing popularity can be attributed to its representation of hope, aspiration of life improving, and order in a time with so many uncertainties.  A single definition, however, remains daring and illusive, as the meaning of ‘resilience’ is strongly influenced by local contexts, where its value is ultimately held in its application and by the people using it to describe their actions.

Definitions vary depending on who you ask. Some say resilience is the ‘ability to bounce back’, others say we need to learn from challenges so resilience is the ‘ability to bounce forward’. We discussed this concept in a “Take me to the River” podcast episode with Paul Ryan.  At a landscape scale, some groups define resilience as the ‘capacity to transform and recover in the face of ecological stresses’. The majority of literature on the topic places resilience in a well-defined box. Yet when we, at Rivers of Carbon, discuss landscape resilience in nature, a being with so much inherent power to change (consider the way a river meanders over time with forceful flows), how could we constrain it in such a way? 

After attending an inspiring seminar at the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society, led by environmental scientists, we at Rivers of Carbon would like to suggest that resilience is an adaptive mentality, challenging people ‘to build systems that are safe when they fail, rather than fail-safe systems’. These systems must be thoughtfully constructed, adapted and transformed based on local circumstances, such as land use, climate, and communities. Most importantly, we recognise that a resilient system in one place, may not be so resilient when used elsewhere. 

Different pathways to resilience also need to consider unique values, vision and scale. Each of these factors have a role to play in defining what resilience looks like for a region. For example, legacy can be a powerful value that may help people hold a vision beyond their life. Believing in creating a better world for one’s children or grandchildren may guide landholders to make particular management decisions. This concept operates at a landscape scale, both temporally and socially. Humans and landscapes fundamentally operate on different timescales. While there may be a stark variation season to season, landscapes actually move and adapt over centuries, on geological time. Considering ‘how long’ and ‘for whom’ a system should be resilient for is, therefore, paramount.

How do we know we’ve ‘reached’ resilience

We know our understanding of resilient landscapes has changed overtime, because our approaches have changed, too. It’s safe to say our values and beliefs towards river restoration in the 1980s looked a little different than they do today. For example, where conservation programs used to leave a 5 metre buffer around wetlands and waterways for riparian restorations, 10-30 metres is now recommended. Approaches to invasive species have also changed so that we can adapt our management and develop plans that allow for a smooth transition to healthy, native ecosystems while retaining biodiversity and ground cover. These are all examples of pathways towards resilient landscapes. It’s important to bear in mind, however, resilience is a spectrum, with no clear start and finish lines.

Resilience in practice

Rivers of Carbon is committed to helping landholders protect and restore Australian wetlands and waterways. Part of this challenge is building resilience into the landscapes on which we work. This often takes the form of improving water quality through erosion and stock management. Other tools include revegetation to promote diverse ground cover and understorey. These projects help to work towards many of the 8 attributes listed above, with unique attention given to building social capital alongside environmental capital. 

Over the course of 12 years, we’ve had the privilege to work on a variety of landscapes, teaching us how to adapt and transform to different ecosystems. We appreciate the challenge that each landscape brings, and find immense satisfaction through the Rivers of Carbon projects. If you’re interested in joining, our RoC Source Water is offering opportunities to landholders with livestock in selected areas.

All images are courtesy Richard Snashall and Mikayla Hyland-Wood.